Serge Lutens Fourreau Noir: fragrance review

Noir this, noir that...What is it about Black that makes it creep up on you with the silent force of a nidja? After Serge Noire [click for review] which was inspired by the black serge material used for clothing for so long, now comes Fourreau Noir from il maestro Serge Lutens and his sidekick Christopher Sheldrake. I was lucky to preview it before its official release (next month) and its perplexing attributes have me pondering on its retro ambience.

The name means "black seath", but also the petticoat garment that was used to make dresses with lower-body volume stay crisp is referenced, as staying even today in fashion parlance "en fourreau pleats". The desire to allude to timelessness is evident and one could liken it to perfume companies' desire to present a hint to the classicism of their compositions not destined to be ephemera (although Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire was nothing but!)
The coumarinic, benzopyrone tonka bean note laced with only a hint of lavender appears fougère-like (hold the moss, please) in Fourreau Noir with a musk bottom that is between proper and improper; an allusion and wordplay almost, between the Latin lavare (to wash, to clean) of lavender and the intimacy of warm caramel-rich musk ~of which Lutens has cornered the market with polar opposites Clair de Musc and Muscs Kublai Khan. If Encens et Lavande and Gris Clair are intensely about lavender, but of the smoky kind and respectively warm and cool, Fourreau Noir is not predominantly about lavender but tips the hat to the extrait de parfum version of Jicky missing its intensely animalic vintage character (ie.civet).
Fougère ("fern-like") forms one pillar of the modern perfume classification, usually masculine-geared, originally founded by the legendary Fougère Royale for Houbigant which was composed by renowned perfumer Paul Parquet. The main accord of this fantasy scent ~ferns don't really have a smell of their own~ includes a bright top note of lavender and sensual base notes of oakmoss and coumarin, with a popular subdivision being "aromatic fougères" which include herbaceous notes, spices and woods.

Atypical for Lutens arguably to go for an overt masculine smell in any of his fragrances, championing the reign of the unisex so far most vehemently (even the virile-looking Vetiver Oriental is more oriental than vetiver in fact!). Yet in Fourreau Noir, the "black sheath" is more of a throw-back to 80s bachelor silk boxer shorts, encasing "peau de mec" (guy's skin) meant to hint at the seductive stakes of a rich playboy that undulates between Bret Easton Ellis heroes ~ Less Than Zero debutants and American Psycho's gang of lawyers~ splashing a bit of Gaultier's Le Male without any inhibitions as to its perceived gay quota, with a hint of patchouli. Contrary to the cocaine-sniffing which such associations would bring to our vortex with the haste of lightining, there is a discreet and revisionistically pleasant whiff of marihuana-incense plus caspirene (the later reminiscent of a gigantic feminine bestseller, can you guess?). Tonka beans also pledge their allegience with hay, vanilla grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) and sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata) while coumarin, the main component, derived through the cyclization of cinnamic acid, bunches them up all together for the sweet picking. Suffice to say the intemingling is evocative of closely-shaven cheeks (no three-day stubble from this guy!), topping expensive Cerruti suits, dancing dangerously close to yours.
My friend Denyse first mentioned dihydromyrcenol, a synthetic note which Chandler Burr describes as an abomination ("sink cleanser spilled on an aluminum counter"), included in several masculine fougères and aquatics of the 1990s (Drakkar Noir, Cool Water, Aqua di Gio, CK One, YSL Nuit de l’homme, but also Coco Mademoiselle!!). Dihydromyrcenol as a raw material does smell harshly of lime-citrus with a metallic yet also aromatic edge and is very fresh (interpret this as you'd like). However the effect at least when dabbing Fourreau Noir on the skin is not as harsh as all that to me personally, aided by the mock bravado displayed by the sweeter aspects of the composition no doubt, such as a bittersweet myrrh inclusion, a nod to the majestic Lutensian opus La Myrrhe (to which I will revert soon) as well as the other elements mentioned above (impressions of patchouli, ambery hints).

While Fille en Auguilles (the latest export Lutens fragrance, reviewed here) has unlocked precious memories for me, this one has not produced the same reverie yet, perhaps because that dizzying lifestyle hasn't been mine. If he offers Fourreau Noir, with a handheld velours compact hiding an expensive jewel but shutting swiftly before you touch it as a joke, question yourself about accepting: are you frizzily-haired Pretty Woman enough for it?

Serge Lutens Fourreau Noir notes: tonka bean and lavender, with musk, almond and lightly smoky accents.

Fourreau Noir officially debuts on 1st September 2009 as an exclusive to Les Salons du Palais Royal in Paris (75 ml, 110 €) in the familiar bell-jars that stack up on the purple and black shelves. The picture depicts the Limited Edition bottle which is in total disaccord with anything opulently Lutensian so far: I am perplexed but also intrigued despite myself!
Edit to add: People have been wanting that kitty bottle. Might I point out that it is only the Limited Edition bottle and those go for 850 euros each :-(

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Serge Lutens news and reviews, Paris shopping


Pics Less Than Zero via pastemagazine.com, Pretty Woman via blog.jinni.com.

Back from holidays.....

And preparing several surprises for you, including a new Series on an important Material, exotic treasures and corresponding pictures as well as news and reviews of forgotten classics and new releases.
But we will kick off the bat later today with a sneak preview of the upcoming exclusive Lutens fragrance, announced previously on these pages!



In the clip Charles Castronovo sings Nadir's aria from Georges Bizet's "Les Pecheurs des Perles" (The Pearl Fishers), a magnificent opera set in ancient Ceylon, which perfectly captures the sweet nostalgia the passing of these holidays is already producing in me.

"Encore je crois entendre encore caché sous les palmiers
Sa voix tendre et sonore comme un chant de ramiers.
Oh nuit enchanteresse, divin ravissement.
Oh souvenir charmant, folle ivresse, doux rêve!
Aux clartés des étoiles je crois encore la voir entr'ouvrir ses longs voiles aux vents tièdes du soir.
Oh nuit enchanteresse, divin ravissement.
Oh souvenir charmant, folle ivresse, doux rêve!"

"I still believe I hear, hidden beneath the palm trees, your voice tender and deep like the song of a dove.
Oh night enchantress, divine rapture,
delightful thought mad intoxication, sweet dream in the clear starlight
I still believe I see in between the long sails of the warm night breeze.
Oh night enchantress, divine rapture.
Oh charming souvenir, delightful thought, mad intoxication, sweet dream!"

Underlying Notes by Eva Pasco: book review

Carla Matteo, a woman who is narrating her mid-life crisis and her hard-earned wisdom at the end of it, goes on through life's vagaries by taking to the bottle...the perfume bottle, that is! Yes, Carla is a regular perfume aficionado with a genuine fragrance passion that manifests itself in every corner and crook and Underlying Notes is her story.

Summer is the perfect time for a little light reading and several people I know revert to genres that are easy and well-suited to the pool cocktails or the straw-topped umbrelas on the sandy beach. Myself I leave Plato be and turn to Yannis Maris and his noir detective fiction and feel all the richer for it. Perfume enthusiasts have another focus too: books that are centered around perfume. That category is wide and includes endeavours from the more scientific & informed to the glossy coffee-table tomes and the caustically witty guides. But those rarely go well with the above-mentioned environment and are often cumbersome to drag along. No, the pleasure of discovering perfume references in a simple paperback novel is far greater for those moments and proves memorable in its own way. Romance novel writer and perfume lover Eva Pasco decided to do just that and write her debut book with a staggering amount of perfume name-dropping (and even descriptions that go into the notes!). As her heroine admits:

"I don't consider myself an addict anymore than someone who fancies himself or herself a collector of fine art, wine, rare books, antiques, stamps, or comics. I view this pursuit as a noble enterprise to elevate my olfactory senses, satisfy momentary whims, relive memories, restore tranquility, or boost flagging energy. Above all, fragrance completes me. I'd no more forgo fragrance than skip brushing my teeth or showering each day." (chapter 1)

I admit that when I first saw the recommendation on Amazon ("for women over 40"), I was left a little aghast, my mouth a little open, questioning both the apparent idiocy of such a recommendation (do women change that dramatically over 40 that even their reading choices should follow?) and my own interest in the material. Being short of reaching that landmark (if only I had the wisdom...) and not a fan of "women-geared" literature (chic-lit) on the whole, I was hesitant. However, upon reading it, I understood why the recommendation was made in the first place and mentally justified it a little more leniently this time.
This is clearly a book written by a woman; a woman who takes the center stage role of narrator and whose rite of passage is documented from a woman's perspective on the first person. On top of that that rite of passage does have to do with middle-age and the going through signposts that involve marriage, a possible seperation, setting up a new business, abandoning one's own dreams in favour of a spouse's and the intricasies of calibrating one's life into fitting many different roles ~much like women have been doing in the last century at least. One might even pick up a beauty tip or two along the way:

"I showered, towel dried, and rubbed China Rose lotion on my skin while damp.When it came time to put on my face, I blended moisturizer with concealer to camouflage the indelible gray south of the borders. I took more time than usual rubbing gel into my hair to lift and flick limp locks into place. As a grooming finale, I sprayed China Rose fragrance in the air, stepped into themist, and for the road, I squirted two pumps of juice onto a cotton ball for tucking inside the cleavage of my bra. When I finished dressing there wasjust enough time for me to round out my morning rituals by logging onto www.mistednotes.com." (chapter 20)

The plot is well-paced and easy to follow, the references are there for those wanting to seek them out and sometimes are chosen to highlight a particular mood or phase or evoking memories that are kept precious:

"That there could be other luscious fragrances lured me to my parents' bedroom where I never tired of exploring the bottles on the vanity tray. I'd loosen the caps and sniff without dabbing, thinking I pulled one over on them. Ma had to know by my vapor trails, but she allowed me this transgression. One day I blurted out my secret, in tears, because I had clumsily knocked over the porcelain southern belle atomizer—a gift from Daddy. The overhead umbrella broke so that it lay over her back, no longer offering protection from the sun and no longer able to spray. The loveliest spicy fragrance was forever entombed because of the irreparable damage I caused.Then Daddy bought me my own vanity tray for my bureau along with a blue bottle of Evening in Paris. About the time my breasts started budding, he gave me Tabu, which my mother disapproved of. In her mind, he granted a daughter license to wear red lipstick and nylons and go on dates. Incidentally, all three criteria would have been met "over his dead body." (chapter 1)

The characters are enjoyable with their own set of quirks; the mother in law and sister are particularly fun to watch, even if the husband, Joe, is a little too good to be 100% true, but I suppose it's important for women to see a man not backing off and supporting their wife's dreams. Even if those involve a little titillating soft-core, I get that the writer's point is that passion isn't dead when one witnesses their second and third ~and umpteenth~ wrinkle:

"He sniffed my scented wrists and inhaled the underlying notes lingering there before tracing his lips along a path from my cleavage down to the brink of my erogenous landscape. He parted my legs, kissed my inner thighs, and swirled his tongue inside the folds of damp flesh. {etc}".

If you enjoy the genre, Underlying Notes is a good companion for your vacation reading.

The book is available on Booklocker on this link.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Book reviews

Star Trek perfumes to unleash your inner captain Kirk

"The folks at Genki Wear, a geek themed jewelry manufacturer, have helped the Enterprise explore a strange new world of merchandising and seek out new lifeline accounts and financial liquidations with a line of Star Trek-inspired cologne and perfumes.And these aren't just randomly named perfume brands linked to the show to make a quick buck. The people who branded these babies have done their homework. The brands include two fragrances for men, Tiberius and Red Shirt, and for the ladies, an ultra-sensual pheromone love potion called Pon Farr Perfume". Read the whole article on TVSquad.

Tiberius, is said to contain notes of sweet citron zest, black pepper and cedar, while Red Shirt is "bright, clean and direct with top notes of green mandarin, bergamot and a hint of lavender", both for men who want to embody Kirk or Picard (there are two distinct groups of Trekdom and you don't to mess with the wrong one). Pon Farr Perfume, named for the septennial mating ritual of Vulcans has "light, clean top notes of citrus, blackcurrant, lotus blossom and water lily, and with base notes from sandalwood, peach and mulberry".

The Star Trek paraphernalia business isn't over. It has merely progressed to the next natural stage...

By popular demand: Pheromones again

As part of an experiment held by Dial soap, nine women at a lounge in New York were blindfolded and asked to select a date by sniffing scent strips.

"Three men had just showered using a body wash with synthesized pheromones, three had used a body wash without pheromones, and the rest had worked up a sweat and not washed at all. They then rubbed their arms on scent strips, and handed them to the women to sniff.
One participant, Michelle Hotaling, 24, chose a man who had used the pheromone body wash. “In appearance and personality he was not someone I would otherwise be convinced to go out with,” she said, once her blindfold came off. “But his scent was a factor that would push my decision to say,
‘Yes.’ ”
Me thinks she needs to go out more...

"The pheromone of choice for men is a family of steroids, related to testosterone, found near the axillary glands in the underarm area. For women, a commonly used compound is estratetraenol, a derivative of the sex hormone estradiol."

Read the whole article here along with historical references on the marketing of pheromones in personal care products.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Pheromone-ladden Body Washes and the Myth of Cumin as Related to Sweat

Pic via Getty Images